CreakyJoints and Pfizer Announce $1M in Research Awards

Research to Focus on Shared Decision Marking in Rheumatoid Arthritis

April 11, 2018 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

UPPER NYACK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CreakyJoints®
today announces that they have selected the Mayo Clinic and the
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to each receive a $500K
research award funded by Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning & Change
(IGLC). Both studies will focus on improving shared decision making
among adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their health care
providers.

John M. Davis, III, MD, MS, associate professor of medicine, Division of
Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN is the principal investigator
for the first project titled, “The Impact of Arthritis Power on
Rheumatoid Arthritis Shared Decision Making.” The objective is to
improve shared decision making about treatment options and thereby
enhance disease outcomes and health-related quality of life for patients
with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by testing the value of engaging patients
in use of ArthritisPower™ mobile application for collection of
patient-reported symptoms data on a weekly basis during the period
between clinic appointments. Information about symptoms will then be
viewed on a tablet by the patients and their rheumatology health care
providers at the point of care for shared decision making about RA
treatment changes.

From UAB, the principal investigator is Huifeng Yun, PhD, a research
assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Her study is
titled, “Integration of Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) and Electronic
Health Records (EHR) to Improve Shared Decision Making in Rheumatoid
Arthritis.” The aim of the study is to reduce the barriers to shared
decision making around clinical decisions in RA management by
integrating individual patient reported outcomes (PRO) data collected by
RA patients via the ArthritisPower™
research registry with clinical and laboratory data from Electronic
Health Records (EHR). The project also aims to educate physicians about
patient-clinician communication regarding RA disease activity, symptoms,
outcomes, and the potential need for treatment changes based on these
collective data.

“We created ArthritisPower because we believe that patients should
always be at the center of RA treatment decision-making. These projects
rely on information coming directly from patients outside of the
clinical setting to take into account patient preferences about
medication efficacy and risks, and quality of life indicators that are
important to people living with arthritis,” stated Seth Ginsberg,
President and Co-Founder of Global Healthy Living Foundation and
CreakyJoints. “We’re thrilled that Mayo and UAB will use ArthritisPower
to inform their studies and add to our understanding of how arthritis
patients think about their symptoms and treatment, and also how they use
technology to communicate this information to their health care
providers.”

Focusing on Quality Improvement

In late 2016, Global Healthy Living Foundation, parent organization of
CreakyJoints, announced the Request for Proposal for this grant program
and evaluated submitted proposals in May 2017. The review process
prioritized funding projects that focus on using the infrastructure
developed for ArthritisPower™ and on shared decision making for RA
treatment with an emphasis on quality improvement. The mission of Pfizer
Independent Grants for Learning & Change (IGLC) is to partner with the
global healthcare community to improve patient outcomes through support
of measurable learning and change strategies. Pfizer has no influence
over any aspect of the projects and only asks for reports about the
results and the impact of the projects to share them publicly. It is
anticipated that preliminary results from these studies will be reported
as early as 2019.

About ArthritisPower

Created by CreakyJoints
and supported by a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment by the
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), ArthritisPower
is the first ever patient-led, patient-centered research registry for
joint, bone, and inflammatory skin conditions. The free ArthritisPower
mobile and desktop application allows patients to track and share their
symptoms and treatments while simultaneously participating in research
in a secure and easy manner. ArthritisPower Patient Governors serve as
gatekeepers for researchers seeking to access registry data or solicit
the community to participate in unique, voluntary studies. To learn more
and join ArthritisPower, visit www.ArthritisPower.org

About CreakyJoints

CreakyJoints®,
founded in 1999, is the go-to source for millions of arthritis patients
and their families world-wide who are seeking education, support,
advocacy, and patient-centered research. CreakyJoints is part of the Global
Healthy Living Foundation, whose mission is to improve the quality
of life for people with chronic illness. For more information and to
become a member (for free), visit www.CreakyJoints.org.